I apologize up front if this isnt the most clear post.

I apologize up front if this isnt the most clear post.

I apologize up front if this isnt the most clear post. Its 5:30am and I’ve been up since yesterday 7am. However, I wanted to toss this out while I am thinking about it.

I am hoping to open a conversation on how best to go about creating a new Playbook for DW.  The source material would be the Furycrafters from the Codex Alera series by J.Butcher. It was a great magic system and I think it would work rather well in DW.  The next important note, before it gets brought up, is role toe-stepping. I believe the concept could be done perfectly fine without stepping on the toes of other Magical classes as in reality I think it would play out to still be different enough from a wizard to be worthwhile.

Does anyone here Know the Furycrafters of the Codex Alera Series/ if you do, what are the key defining points you would start with to define the mechanical niche in DW?  Ny firt thought is the Furycrafter’s Bond with a specific elemental being from one of the 6 elements, and what they can accomplish with the aid of their Fury as their primary mechanic. Expansion mechanics would revolve around broudening the elemental connection to 2 or even 3 elements and 3 furies. Broadening Rather increasing the power curve would to explorer wider ranges of the use of the element such as a low powered Air Fury may grant a good overland run speed an some short falling protection. When broadened might grow into levitation then flight.

Look forward to any comments.

RACES

RACES

RACES

So, to a prior topic on races, I’ve been putting together a list of Racial Tags to use for those who want to have a more defined list of mechanical traits for their races. Here is what I have so far.  Thoughts?

Astral Sight: You can use Discern Realities to notice magical power and spirits which would be invisible or otherwise undetectable normally. A successful check means he can tell there’s magic or a spirit present, and its general direction.

Claws / Jaws: You have vicious claws or jaws capable of dealing your damage.

Darkvision: You can see in complete darkness, but only in greytones. 

Hearty: You are immune to disease and poisons.

Eagle-Eyes: The character has long distance vision.

Endurance: You live in an extreme environment and are not harmed by it. (Polar, Volcanic, etc. – gain 1)

Enhanced Hearing: The character can distinguish the tiniest sounds at long distances, but is susceptible to loud noises nearby.

Enhanced Touch: The character’s fingers, tentacles, or whatever are extremely sensitive and can feel tiny details or sense minute movements in a device (such as an old lock).

Flight: You have wings and are capable of flight.

Hard Hide: You have a thick skin which acts as 1 Armor.

Heightened Smell: The character can detect minute differences in smells, picking up trails and the presence of certain substances long after they’ve disappeared.

Glamour: You are hard to target as you have a confusing, shimmering appearance granting 1 Armor.

Jump: The character can jump much further than normal.

Long-Lived: You’ve been around a long time and gain a +1 when Spouting Lore about old stuff (legends, events, history).

Low-Light Vision: You can see normally even in dim and faint light.

Nature Bound: Choose your native terrain. You are completely at home in this environment and can take advantage of it as needed.

Otherworldly: You can resist emotional or mental attacks, however, you often don’t know the best way to react in social situations.

Oversized: Your attacks gain the Forceful tag.

Small-Sized: You can use your small size to your advantage such as climb things, sneak and hide, fit into small spaces.

Stable: Ignores the Forceful tag from Large or smaller creatures.

Taciturn: You are a listener, not a talker and have a natural ability to remember what others have said.

Treasure Sense: You can identify where precious minerals and metals may naturally be found, and can evaluate gems and jewelry.

Water-Born: You have gills and may breathe underwater unaided and can swim perfectly as easily as a human walks.

Fast / Slow – not sure how to make a mechanic for something like this in DW.

Hey all.

Hey all.

Hey all. I have a quick etiquette question.  I am looking at re-designing some of the DW classes to fit my homebrew sandbox a bit better than the old D&D classes. However, I am not looking to reinvent the wheel. There are a ton of great classes out there, but none exactly fit the style I am looking for. My question is this. Would people be offended if the moves from their various classes ended up used in other classes (with appropriate credit given of course)?  For example using the move “Thoughtsend” from Nemo’s Beguiler in a Telepath class; or the move “Deny Accusation” by Anthony Giovannetti for a Courtier class?

To add a question for Ranger Week…  Has anyone done a rebuild of the class to do away with the Animal Companion?

To add a question for Ranger Week…  Has anyone done a rebuild of the class to do away with the Animal Companion?

To add a question for Ranger Week…  Has anyone done a rebuild of the class to do away with the Animal Companion? Something more along the line of a Scout, focusing more on the stealthy hunter aspect than the beast partner aspect? If not, what ideas might fit as a decent replacement for the Animal Companion move tree?

I am looking to build a new base class, the Telepath.

I am looking to build a new base class, the Telepath.

I am looking to build a new base class, the Telepath. However, I’d like to get an idea what that conjures in people’s mind when they see the class name. This group seems pretty amazing at sharing ideas and opinions, so I thought it would be a great place to bounce some ideas before Iget into the meat of trying my first class creation.

* What archetype does this bring to mind for you?

* What are the key concepts and abilities you most associate with a Telepath?

Do these ideals change depending on the genre (e.g. Sci-Fi vs. Fantasy)?

Do you see a difference between say a Telepath and a Telekinetic or do you see kinetics as an expansion of telepathy?

Where would Clairvoyance (Sixth Sense, Precognition type abilities), come into play… its own archtype or mixed with Teleapthy?

What sources from literature, film, RPGs do you consider the best representation of how you see telepathic (or other psychic) abilities? (i.e. Favored character representations)

—–

For me, I see ‘Telepathy’ as being as primarily being about the reception and transmission of thoughts, memories and emotions. Powers I associate with a Telepath are: telepathic communication (heard or seen), empathic reading, memory probing, memory alteration, shared senses, mind control and suggestion.

I see a Telekinetic as someone who can control matter such as: speeding and slowing electrons to create heat, cold or static electricity; manipulating gravity fields to make objects (or people) move, etc.

Personally, I’m on the fence about Clairsentient abilities. Clairvoyance and Precognition are interesting concepts but I’m not necessarily sure they can support their own archetype. There is of course the school of thought of the generic ‘Psychic’ who can do it all, but overall I tend to think that muddies the archetype down unless there is a ‘Path’ of progression per say where one Psychic may develop toward one type of power while another follows a different path, but their core abilities are the same. (I.e. I’m not a fan of the SRD Psion that has a bunch of powers that mimic a wizard, nor am I a fan of Psychometabolic (Psy-Warrior) or Psychoportative (Nightcrawler) type abilities for a Telepath archetype.)

I look forward to seeing whatever kinds of responses this may elicit. Oh, and thanks in advance for any responses.

How do people codify the more mechanical aspects of a race’s fiction?  This is one area I have a rough time with…

How do people codify the more mechanical aspects of a race’s fiction?  This is one area I have a rough time with…

How do people codify the more mechanical aspects of a race’s fiction?  This is one area I have a rough time with when trying to groc DW.  I like detailed races, and I like race to matter in my world. 

The book just says that if its part of the fiction, its part of the race, but how does that work?  

For something like standard Low-Light or Night Vision thats pretty easy to mechanize from fiction without really needing “stats” but how do you work in concepts like a racial ability to telepathically communicate with animals, or how do you handle racial attributes like Keen Senses, or Natural Athleticism?  What about racial negative features, like a race that has a poor disposition against other races (e.g. orcs and dwarves)? 

Would it work to have your say full page of fiction on the race, then a small bullet point of racial abilities that are assumed a part of that fiction but that require minor mechanical notes?

For example, how would you show the classic D&D dwarf?

* How do you adjudicate saying that dwarves move slightly slower than other medium sized species due to their stocky, short-legged stature? Or would you rewrite and remove this part of the fiction?

* How do you say that dwarves are better at wearing armor than most? Would you give them “remove clumsy tag” or drop this aspect of the fiction?

* Darkvision. Dwarves can see in black and white even in total darkness.  How do you handle vision range?  What about other types of vision?

* Stonecunning: Would you handle this as something like a +1 to Discern Realities and Spout Lore pertaining to stone and earth?

* Stability: +1 to Defy Danger versus being bull rushed or tripped, when standing on the ground?

* Dwarven Resistance: +1 to Defy Danger against poisons and magic?

etc.

I’m just really curious how people handle this since in most cases I see the standard “pick any race” attitude and see people using all kinda of crazy races. Yet when it comes down to it, all they get that really makes their “race” is a one line minor adaptation to their class. 

I want to have some unique races in my world and I need them to feel different from other races.  For some really advanced races, I can see the race basically being its own class (e.g. drakes, giants, etc.) but not all races should fall into this category. However, for my world I want a Dwarf fighter to feel like being a dwarf means more than simply that they can Parley with CON instead of CHA.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this.  As it stands I may be looking really closely at Grim World Species and Pirate World Background systems for idea on how to make race matter more in DW.

I’m just curious. Has anyone thought about a move acquisition structure other than Base Class & Compendium Class?

I’m just curious. Has anyone thought about a move acquisition structure other than Base Class & Compendium Class?

I’m just curious. Has anyone thought about a move acquisition structure other than Base Class & Compendium Class? 

I ask because I’ve seen a large proliferation of base classes, but to me it seems like an awkward way to go about variations on central themes. For instance having to write a whole new Burglar class vs. the Thief class which has stealth-based abilities instead of Poison abilities, or a whole different class for a ‘Light-Arrmed’ theme Fighter vs. the core design.

Has anyone tried going with a system with a core group of basic classes (a.k.a. Basic Classes like Warrior, Mage, Priest, Rogue) then having “specialties” (a.k.a. Kits, Advanced Classes, etc. like Burglar, Con-Artist, Soldier, Thug, Bounty Hunter, Berzerker, Illusionist, etc.) that the PC can choose?   The basic class would only have moves that are key to the core concept and shared by all specialties for that class, while other ‘themed’ moves would be specialty specific? 

Would this even work in DW?

Example:

* Warrior Basic Class (melee fighting/defense class) – includes basic weapon use, armor use, Spout Lore – Weapons and Armor, Basic Fighting Techniques.

* Background: Choose 1 specialty from the list of options. This specialty’s moves count as class moves for you and you may choose from this list when you level up in addition to the moves of your base class. Additionally, you gain the core ability of your specialty.

* Example List of Specialties:

– Bodyguard (Core: Bonus to Defend)

– Berzerker/Barbarian (Core: frenzy/rage ability)

– Duelist (Core: Use +DEX vs. +STR for Hack and Slash)

– Soldier (Core: bonus to Make Camp and Take Watch)

Each specialty could have its own unique Spout Lore bonuses, etc.

Compendium Classes would remain the same, special lists of abilities linked to a specific fulfillment requirement. These would be special classes, not generic ideas. For instance a Guild Thief of the Flaming Blades CC would only be something available to someone who actively becomes a special agent of the Flaming Blades thieves’ guild in game, etc.